Debbie Wasserman Schultz: FBI, DHS never contacted me about DNC hack

Wasserman Schultz appeared to be rebutting statements from former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, who testified today that the DNC said it didn't need the department's help when it was hacked last year. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said Wednesday that neither the FBI nor any other government agency contacted her about the hacking of the Democratic National Committee's computer networks.

"At no point during my tenure at the DNC did anyone from the FBI or any other government agency contact or communicate with me about Russian intrusion on the DNC network. It is astounding to me that the chair of an organization like the DNC was never contacted by the FBI or any other agency concerned about these intrusions," Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. "As a member of Congress, I had the unique clearance to hear any classified briefing that would be involved in such an intrusion, and the FBI clearly should have come to me with that information. They did not."

Wasserman Schultz appeared to be rebutting statements from former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who testified today that the DNC said it didn't need the Department of Homeland Security's help when it was hacked last year.

Johnson told the House Intelligence Committee he repeatedly asked if the department's cybersecurity experts had stepped in to help the DNC discover vulnerabilities in their system after the intrusion.

Johnson said he was told the FBI had spoken with the DNC, which instead decided to rely on a private cybersecurity firm for help.

"My interest in helping them was definitely of nonpartisan interest, and I recall very clearly that I was not pleased that we were not in there helping them patch this vulnerability," he said.

Wasserman Schultz served as chairwoman of the DNC at the time of the hack. She resigned in July 2016 after a trove of emails from the DNC were leaked and published by WikiLeaks.

The Florida congresswoman said she would have accepted help from the FBI and other agencies had they discussed the hack with her.

"If the FBI or any other government agency ever came to me with that information, I would have gladly welcomed their help," she said. "In fact, back in March, former FBI Director Jim Comey testified that he wished he had personally done more to notify the DNC of the Russian intrusion."

Wasserman Schultz has argued in the past that she was never told that the DNC had been hacked. In January, the Florida Republican confronted Comey during a confidential briefing in January and asked why he never told her about the intrusion.